


Sipping Sherbet

by devilinthedetails



Series: The Voice [1]
Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Bazhir, Bazhir Culture, Escaping the Heat, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:02:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25920277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilinthedetails/pseuds/devilinthedetails
Summary: A young Ali Mukhtab tastes sherbet for the first time.
Series: The Voice [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881097
Kudos: 3





	Sipping Sherbet

Sipping Sherbet 

Ali never tasted sherbet until he traveled among the tribes as the Voice’s chosen student, the appointed inheritor of the accumulated wisdom, dreams, and stories of a thousand generations that would live in him, whispering to him like sand in the wind. 

At high noon, they hid from the sweltering sun beneath the cool canopy of the Sunset Dragon chief’s tent. On a pile of cushions, they sat at a low table and sipped sherbet that crunched like northern ice in his mouth and then melted like the snows he had never seen. The sherbet smelled of fresh rose petals that bloomed on his tongue and tang lemon that made his nose twitch and the roof of his mouth tingle. Cutting through both those flavors was the tart richness of hibiscus. 

Sherbet was an adult drink. It was to be savored by grown men on celebrations and feast days. It was to be served as a toast to honor esteemed guests or to commemorate successful negotations. 

Ali had never felt more adult, more honored than when he lifted the glass of sherbet to his lips and heard the Voice say, “Sipping sherbet is the best way to escape the heat.”


End file.
